Donaldson Joins From NBA’s Atlanta Hawks; Was Member Of Toronto Raptors Basketball Operations Staff During 2019 NBA Championship Run

The Portland Fire today announced the hiring of Brittni Donaldson as Assistant Coach and Assistant General Manager, bringing one of the most forward-thinking, analytically driven, and player-centered coaches in professional basketball to the WNBA. She will report to Fire General Manager Vanja Černivec and Head Coach Alex Sarama.

Donaldson will play a key cross-functional role intentionally designed to challenge the traditional staffing models and support a modern, development-driven expansion team. She will help build an innovation-driven basketball organization from the ground up by helping shape the team’s coaching methodologies, player development systems, analytics integration, and talent strategy.

“This is a groundbreaking hire for the franchise,” said Černivec. “Brittni’s rare blend of expertise, her unique skill set and forward-thinking approach make her one of the brightest minds in basketball. More importantly, she is incredibly humble, open minded and kind and we’re confident she’ll have an immediate and lasting impact on our franchise.”

Donaldson joins the Fire after nearly a decade of coaching and front-office experience across the NBA, NBA G League, and Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). Most recently, she served as Director of Basketball Development, Methodology & Integration for the Atlanta Hawks, where she oversaw the alignment of coaching, performance, analytics, and front-office departments around a unified player-development strategy – one of the most modern roles of its kind in the NBA. In that position, she led cross-departmental planning, introduced evidence-based training methodologies, including differential learning and constraints-led approaches, and integrated technologies to strengthen player progress tracking and decision-making.

“We are redefining traditional staffing structures to achieve our goal of being on the cutting edge of professional sports,” said Sarama. “Brittni will play an integral part within this new model, which is centered around a coaching staff that is entirely collaborative and deeply committed to evidence-based development,” said Sarama. “Brittni is one of the sharpest minds in the game. She blends world-class analytical expertise with an athlete-centered coaching philosophy. She will play a key role in bringing the Fire strategy to life.”

“This is an incredible opportunity to help shape a team from the ground up,” Donaldson said. “The Fire are committed to modern basketball and building a performance environment that reflects where the sport is going. I’m excited to work with Vanja, Ashley and Alex and the rest of this organization to set a new standard for what a basketball team can be.”

Prior to her Hawks tenure, Donaldson served as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks (2023-25), Detroit Pistons (2022-23) and Toronto Raptors (2019-21), contributing to scouting, game preparation, player development, and data-driven strategic planning. Her early career included two seasons (2017-19), as a data analyst for the Raptors, where she played a role in the organization’s 2019 NBA Championship run.

Donaldson also brings championship experience from the CEBL, where she served as Assistant Coach and Director of Coaching Development for the 2022 champion Hamilton Honey Badgers, leading innovative practice designs and player-learning systems. Internationally, she has coached with Basketball Without Borders and Giants of Africa, reinforcing her reputation as a global educator of the game.

A former Division I guard at Northern Iowa, Donaldson holds a degree in Statistics and Actuarial Science, an academic foundation that has informed her approach to analytics-supported coaching throughout her career.

The Portland Fire will return to court for the 2026 WNBA season.

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About Portland Fire
Portland Fire is one of the Women’s National Basketball League’s newest franchises, making its official on court debut in 2026. Owned by RAJ Sports – led by Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage – the team is more than a franchise; it’s the revival of a movement, honoring the legacy of the original Portland Fire while blazing a bold new path forward. Based in Portland, Oregon, the global epicenter of women’s sports, Portland Fire is rooted in the Rose City’s enduring resilience, spirit, and passion for sport.

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